I Once Fell Asleep On The Shower Floor

and for once I wasn't scared of sleep at all.

It was the clearest my mind had ever been. 

In my mind, emotions became bruised 

and the shower scrubbed them clean again.

And again, I drew hearts on steamed mirrors.  

My tears salted the water as they faded.

Warm water had been fading faster,

pruney fingers ran through tangled hair.

The thoughts were treacherously tangled

I’d been unraveling them all the time. 

As I unraveled memories they blurred,

 my cheek rested against the tiled wall.

I watched colder water run down the tile 

and for once I wasn’t scared of sleep at all.

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Notes:

I Once Fell Asleep On The Shower Floor was originally published in The Raven Review on April 28, 2025. Click here to read the original publication.

This poem is in the form of a Duplex invented by Jericho Brown. This form of poetry entered the literary zeitgeist with his body of work Tradition. The rules for a Duplex are as follows:

• The poem is written in 7 couplets totalling 14 lines.

• The second line of each couplet is repeated or echoed in the first line of the following couplet.

• The first and last lines of the poem are the same.

• Each line typically has between 9-11 syllables.